The dogs were found and taken to Lapeer County Animal Control, according to the report.

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Police initially responded to the scene because of gunshots fired by a neighbor who was trying to scare away the dogs attacking Sytsma, who worked in Oxford Township.

For Don Richmond, a case of mistaken identity caused his wife, Julie, some fright when police showed up at their residence with news that the then-unidentified man might be him.

“(This) happened near where I live and the state police came to my house while I was out walking because they believed it was me,” he told The Oakland Press. “They scared the crap out of my wife and told (her) ‘there has been a bad accident and we have reason to believe it was your husband.’”

Richmond, who works for Altair Engineering, Inc. in Troy and lives in Brandon Township near Metamora, said he is known for exercising in the area and a neighbor likely called police thinking it was him. He noted that dog attacks had been a problem for him in that area as well.

“I’ve been bitten by dogs four times, three of them along my running routes in our area,” he said. “I guess it never occurred to me that an attack could end up life threatening, so that brings my concerns to another level. You think of it as being a single dog biting you and running away, not several dogs who are intent on severely injuring or killing you.”

“I guess there is a certain trust that people won’t own dogs that vicious or dangerous, and if they did, that they would be locked down,” he continued. “Of course, we don’t know if the owner had ever observed any kind of behavior like this from these dogs before.”

He gave his condolences to the family of the man who was attacked.

“My prayers are with this guy’s family,” he said. “I saw what my wife went through when she thought it was me, and this man’s family is living that reality.”